Obama dithers over Keystone pipeline

Prince Barack O'Hamlet has decreed another delay on the over-rehearsed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Kansas. Never mind that the State Department approved the project when Hillary was Secretary of State. Never mind that two EPA studies have said Keystone will have no measurable effect on climate or global hydrocarbo...

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By THOMAS GELSTHORPE

capecodtimes.com

By THOMAS GELSTHORPE

Posted Apr. 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By THOMAS GELSTHORPE

Posted Apr. 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

Prince Barack O'Hamlet has decreed another delay on the over-rehearsed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Kansas. Never mind that the State Department approved the project when Hillary was Secretary of State. Never mind that two EPA studies have said Keystone will have no measurable effect on climate or global hydrocarbon demand. Never mind that Canada, our closest ally and largest trading partner, has sold the U.S. over 90 percent of Canadian oil exports since the inception of the industry. Never mind that new pipes work better than old pipes as engineering improves over time, and that Keystone would be a mere shortcut in a reliable system totaling hundreds of thousands of miles.

Keystone's dogged opponents keep insisting against logic and experience that Canada's oil is especially icky, that TransCanada's pipelines are especially shoddy, and that a tipping point into climate doomsday is inevitable unless the United States vilifies its neighbor over an infrastructure project anyone born since the Stone Age would consider an upgrade.

Eight consecutive presidents, including the incumbent, pledged to improve American energy security. Prince O'Hamlet himself promised five years ago to get rolling on "shovel ready" projects. Yet the outstanding shovel-ready project, offering the American economy and North American energy security the most good, has been on hold the whole five years.

In my mind, the ugliest aspect of the anti-Keystone campaign is the utter disrespect directed at Canada. Despite overuse of the word "unprecedented," a true example is the two centuries of beneficial cooperation between our two countries. That's a big reason why Canada expected a ready customer to the south. Suddenly an American faction with the president's ear wants to dismantle that record of success. Some hope Alberta's oil business will fold if the U.S. stops the pipeline. But we don't own Canada. Canadians may someday tire of us pretending we do.

Keystone opponents are emitting a scent of corruption similar to the Teapot Dome scandal that tarred the Harding administration. In the early 1920s, oilmen Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny bribed the Secretary of Interior to grant them private access to federally controlled naval oil reserves. In the Keystone fight, hedge fund manager Tom Steyer is dangling $100 million in potential contributions to anti-Keystone politicians. Much of Steyer's fortune was made in hydrocarbons. His fund also invested in a pipeline company considering a route from Alberta's oilfields to the Canadian Pacific Coast, instead of south to the U.S. Other Steyer investments benefit from subsidized renewables whose value rises when American hydrocarbons are hobbled.

The company controlled by Obama supporter Warren Buffett owns 53 million shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, whose tank cars transport Canadian oil — all the more if Keystone is blocked permanently.

Contemporary environmentalism exaggerates risks, and has hardened into opposing common sense improvements in known technologies. The quest for an imagined, pastoral utopia has made the perfect into the enemy of the good. We should pursue renewables, but can't expect short-term replacement of the oil that provides 90-plus percent of the world's transportation fuels.

The local tangles over Cape Wind and Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station show how technical advance can be slowed to a glacial pace when politics takes precedence. Opponents have delayed Cape Wind's intermittent 150 megawatts for 12 years. Opponents of Pilgrim Nuclear would like to terminate 680 megawatts of baseline tomorrow. Where are the advocates for practical compromise?

Dithering on Keystone is stiffing our ally — and has become Obama's foreign policy failure closest to home. How many such failures must we endure?

Russia is retaking Eastern European territory. Western Europe is vulnerable to Russian pressure because of their need for Russia's oil and gas. Canada borders only the United States — once viewed as a benefit in both countries. Alaska borders only Canada, and was once Russian. Why, at this dangerous juncture in international affairs, are we abusing Canada's trust in pursuit of a fantasy?

Thomas Gelsthorpe lives in Cataumet. Call him at 508-564-4919 or email him at thomasgelsthorpe@gmail.com.